July 23, 1999

Passing through the halls of the hospital, the faces of new physician trainees are a familiar sight to MGHers every July. Approximately 275 house officers completed orientation sessions during the last month, and now are acclimating to their new responsibilities as caregivers and MGH employees.

These new physicians come to the MGH as either interns, residents or fellows. Interns come to the hospital directly from medical school to complete their first year of training as doctors. Residents – who can be in their second to seventh year of postgraduate education – receive advanced training in a core medical specialty program. Fellows have graduated from a residency program and have chosen to extend their training by entering a subspecialty program.

According to Georgi Bland, program manager for the MGH Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME), the hospital has 21 residency programs and 90 fellowship programs. Each program offers individual clinical rotations and research components based on a curriculum developed for that specialty or subspecialty. Ten residency programs and nine fellowship programs are run jointly with BWH or McLean Hospital, including Emergency Medicine, Infectious Disease, Neurology, OB/GYN, Plastic Surgery and Psychiatry.

Many of the interns, residents and fellows are selected to train at the MGH through a nationwide matching program. After a rigorous application and interviewing process, a nationwide computer program  which compares hospital preferences with those of graduating medical students – assigns applicants to teaching hospitals. "The MGH has a long tradition of superb educational programs, and is fortunate to attract the best and brightest medical students to train at the hospital," says Debra Weinstein, MD, director of GME for Partners. "The MGH's deep commitment to providing excellent patient care is a key element in training the next generation of physician leaders."

Residents' orientation for the
Department of Medicine